It's National Apprenticeship Week and a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate our fantastic apprentices here at Aspens. 

As part of the Week, Runway Training will be holding their Runway Training Apprenticeship and Learner Achievement Awards and we are delighted to announce that Kathryn Montague and Justin Lambourne, Deputy Managers at one of our Sussex services, have both been nominated for a 'Special Traineeship Award'. A huge congratulations to Kathryn and Justin on this recognition of their hard work. Aspens has also been nominated for the 'Special Employer Award' at the event taking place on 9 February in Tonbridge. 

Congratulations to Ashley Brawn, Grounds Maintenance Worker, on passing his Horticulture/Landscape Operative Level 2 Apprenticeship, to Lucy Stonebridge, Marketing and Communications Apprentice, who recently passed her end-point assessment for her Junior Content Producer Apprenticeship and well done to all our other team members currently studying towards apprenticeships, whilst also working hard in their day jobs!

Emily Barks, Executive Assistant at Aspens and former Business Administration Apprenticeship student said:

"I learned so much doing my Business Administration Apprenticeship with Aspens. I was even enrolled onto a Makaton course to aid me in communicating with the people we support. Completing the Apprenticeship has helped me secure my Executive Assistant position I am in now and allowed me to gain exceptional experience that I never would have got at university. You essentially get paid to study and paid to complete a qualification. Completing an Apprenticeship means you receive all the benefits of studying, with none of the debt.If you are considering an Apprenticeship with Aspens I’d say do it! Aspens is an amazing charity that helps individuals daily, I am proud to be a part of that. This job is so rewarding and I feel like I am genuinely helping people." 

Taking up an apprenticeship is a fantastic way of developing skills and knowledge and progressing your career. It is extremely beneficial to us as a charity as our team members grow in their experience and confidence, ultimately helping us in our mission to provide high quality care and support to people on the autism spectrum and with learning disabilities. 

We currently have 25 apprenticeships being undertaken and support our team members through a wide range of apprenticeships, covering many departments across our charity, including in the following areas:

• Adult Social Care Level 2, 3 and 5
• Children Residential Level 2 and 3
• Marketing and Content Production
• Horticulture 
• Electrical Engineering
• Level 3 Business 

Aspens works with a number of apprenticeship providers including Runway, Gingernut and Mid Kent College.

If you're interested in undertaking an apprenticeship whilst working for Aspens keep an eye out on our job pages for opportunities. Existing staff members who'd like to explore this further should get in touch with our People department to chat about the options available.